WHAT IS A FABLE
FEATURES
FROG FABLES
FROG SONG
WORKSHEET
DESIREE EVEN-HEN 11846755
LIORA TSIFTSER 14991392
WHAT IS A FABLE
A fable is a very short story which is meant to illustrate a
point or teach us a lesson. Usually, but not always,
fables are stories about animals that talk like people.
The lesson that a fable teaches us is called a moral.
A parable means something similar. It is usually short
fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a
religious principle .Many common sayings come from
Aesop? Fables: ?Don’t count your chickens before they
hatch,? and ?Honesty is the best policy,? and ?Look
before you leap? are familiar examples. Aesop is
believed to have been a Greek slave who made up
these stories to make his life easier. Nobody is really
sure if Aesop made up these fables. What is certain,
however, is that the stories called Aesop's Fables are so
wonderful that they have been told over and over again
for thousands of years .
BACK
FEATURES
Structure: short, pithy animal tale, most often told or written with a
moral tagged on in the form of a proverb.
Moral: it conveys a moral, which is the aim of most fables, and the
tale is the vehicle by which this is done, providing both an illustration
of and compelling argument for the moral.
Personification: Fables involve animals that speak and act like
people.
Allegory: The symbolic representation of truths or generalizations
about human existence.
BACK
The Frogs Desiring a King
The Frogs were living as happy as could be in a marshy swamp that just
suited them. They went splashing about, caring for nobody and nobody
troubled them.
But some of the frogs thought that this was not right, that they should have
a king and a proper constitution, so they sent up a petition to Zeus to give
them what they wanted. ?Mighty Zeus,? they cried, ?send unto us a king
that will rule over us and keep us in order.?
Zeus laughed at their croaking and threw down into the swamp a huge
Log.
The Frogs were frightened out of their lives by the commotion made in their
midst, and all rushed to the bank to look at the horrible monster. But after a
time, seeing that it did not move, one or two of the boldest of them ventured
out towards the Log, and even dared to touch it. Still it did not move.
Then the greatest hero of the Frogs jumped upon the Log and commenced
dancing up and down upon it; thereupon all the Frogs came and did the
same, and for some time the Frogs went about their business every day
without taking the slightest notice of their new King Log lying in their midst.
But this did not suit them, so they sent another petition to Zeus, and said to
him,
We want a real king ? one that will really rule over us.?
Now this made Zeus angry, so he sent them a big Stork that soon set to
work gobbling them all up. Then the Frogs repented, but it was too late.
THE MORAL: Better no rule than cruel rule.
The Boys and the Frogs
Some boys, playing near a pond, saw a number
of Frogs in the water and began to pelt them
with stones.
They killed several of them, when one of the
Frogs, lifting his head out of the water, cried out:
"Pray stop, my boys: what is sport to you, is
death to us.“
THE MORAL: One man's pleasure may be another's
pain.
The , the , and the
A Mouse who always lived on the land, by an unlucky chance,
formed an intimate acquaintance with a Frog, who lived, for the most
part, in the water. One day, the Frog was intent on mischief. He tied
the foot of the Mouse tightly to his own. Thus joined together, the
Frog led his friend the Mouse to the meadow where they usually
searched for food.
After this, he gradually led him towards the pond in which he lived,
until reaching the banks of the water, he suddenly jumped in,
dragging the Mouse with him.
The Frog enjoyed the water amazingly, and swam croaking about,
as if he had done a good deed. The unhappy Mouse was soon
sputtered and drowned in the water, and his poor dead body floating
about on the surface.
A Hawk observed the floating Mouse from the sky, and dove down
and grabbed it with his talons, carrying it back to his nest. The Frog,
being still fastened to the leg of the Mouse, was also carried off a
prisoner, and was eaten by the Hawk.
THE MORAL: "Choose your allies carefully"
Frog in a Milk-Pail
A frog was hopping around a farmyard, when it decided to
investigate the barn. Being somewhat careless, and maybe a little
too curious, he ended up falling into a pail half-filled with fresh milk.
As he swam about attempting to reach the top of the pail, he found
that the sides of the pail were too high and steep to reach.
He tried to stretch his back legs to push off the bottom of the pail but
found it too deep.
But this frog was determined not to give up, and he continued to
struggle.
He kicked and squirmed and kicked and squirmed, until at last, all
his churning about in the milk had turned the milk into a big hunk of
butter.
The butter was now solid enough for him to climb onto and get out of
the pail!
The MORAL: “Never Give Up”!
BACK
Five Green and Speckled Frogs
Five green and speckled frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating some most delicious bugs
YYYYUUUUMMMM YYYYUUUUMMMM
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Then there were
Four green and speckled frogs
GGGGLLLLUUUUBBBB GGGGLLLLUUUUBBBB
(Repeat in descending order.)
My muddy buddy
Ihave a buddy,
My buddy's a toad.
My buddy is muddy,
He's flat on the road. But he is my buddy,
My buddy to stay.
Until he's peeled up,
And sailed away.
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WORKSHEET
Choose a fable:
1. Write a letter to one of the characters.
2. Write a letter from one character to
another.
3. Create a fable of your own. Pay
attention to the features and the structure
of a fable.
Enjoy your work!